Quick question for a Harpia owner (1 Viewer)

[skutchia]

Hello there, could anybody owning a Harpia please just confirm to me whether the grooved metal ring at the objective lens (see photo) is supposed to be stuck to the scope (ie,immovable), or should it be loose enough that it can we swivelled round and round in a circle with one's finger ?
Thanks very much in advance!

 

[Mike Crawley]

I’m a Swarovski user and haven’t used a Harpia but to my eye it looks like a ring into which you could fix a filter, etc.

 

[Tringa45]

I too think that's a filter thread on an extendable lens hood.
Btw, if that's salt spray on the objective you should be very careful cleaning it.
After removing the stay-on case put a drop of detergent into a wash basin full of water and lower the objective into it. You can then use a soft tissue under water to clean the objective and subsequently dry off with a fresh tissue.

John

PS:- Using the lens hood will also provide some protection for the objective lens.

 

[tenex]

Back to rotation... normally a filter thread is right in front of the objective (a hood just slides out over all that) and no, it shouldn't rotate freely because then one couldn't screw in a filter. Does the ring itself screw back down tight? (that may require a special tool to engage notches in it, or repair service)

 

[BethEngland]

No movement on mine

 

[Tringa45]

Back to rotation... normally a filter thread is right in front of the objective (a hood just slides out over all that) and no, it shouldn't rotate freely because then one couldn't screw in a filter. Does the ring itself screw back down tight? (that may require a special tool to engage notches in it, or repair service)

Absolutely silly I know, but both my ATM 65HD and my Kowa 883 have the filter threads in the extendable and rotatable lens hoods.

John

 

[skutchia]

Just to thank you all of you very much for your comments, particularly Beth. Confirms my suspicion that the thing has broken (in exactly the same place) once again , just a few weeks after a full service ! The last time this blasted ring just dropped out completely, now it's just loose. I'll send it back again - I have had a hard time with this scope...

 

[tenex]

Absolutely silly I know, but both my ATM 65HD and my Kowa 883 have the filter threads in the extendable and rotatable lens hoods.

The few scopes I've paid attention to don't. How does that work? Wouldn't you get glare from an unshaded filter?

 

[cnee]

Both my ATM 80 and the older STS 80 have the filter threads on the lens hood. I always thought that's not a sensible design.

 

[Rotherbirder]

Both my ATM 80 and the older STS 80 have the filter threads on the lens hood. I always thought that's not a sensible design.

I agree; filters attached to the lens hood? What a useless idea. I can't think of a camera lens that works this way or any real benefit it would provide. My old Leica APO62 takes a filter in front of the objective and the hood extends over it, just as it should.

RB

 

[Hermann]

Both my ATM 80 and the older STS 80 have the filter threads on the lens hood. I always thought that's not a sensible design.

You are too nice. It's an idiotic design.

BTW, the original Leica Apo-Televid 77 also had the filter threads on the hood. When I told the Leica people what I thought about this they got strangely defensive ...

Hermann

 

[cnee]

You are too nice. It's an idiotic design.

BTW, the original Leica Apo-Televid 77 also had the filter threads on the hood. When I told the Leica people what I thought about this they got strangely defensive ...

Hermann

Well, I guess I forgot I was not in the Swarovski forum...

 

[Rotherbirder]

You are too nice. It's an idiotic design.

BTW, the original Leica Apo-Televid 77 also had the filter threads on the hood. When I told the Leica people what I thought about this they got strangely defensive ...

Hermann

Strange that this was the case when the old APO-Televid 62 was done the 'right' way?

RB

 

[Hermann]

Strange that this was the case when the old APO-Televid 62 was done the 'right' way?

Not really. The Apo-Televid 77 and the Televid 77 came onto the market in 1994 or 1995. Can't remember the exact year. It was the first scope Leica ever made. The old Apo-Televid 62 appeared years later. Seems like Leica learned something in the meantime.

BTW, I took the Apo-Televid on a trip to Eastern Finland and Varanger in 1995. Nice trip actually, there were for instance still Yellow-browed Buntings breeding in Finland at the time, near the Russian border. After that trip I got in touch with Leica to suggest the filter threads on the hood were a stupid idea. Never got a reply from Leica. I also suggested they might want to make a smaller and lighter scope. Carrying the Apo-Televid up Valtavaara Ridge for Red-flanked Bluetail wasn't fun at all. The reply I got was that nobody would be interested in a smaller scope. Nobody.

When Zeiss started making the first big Diascopes repeated itself. I got the same reply from Zeiss when I told them there was definitely a market for a smaller scope. No, never. It also took them a few years before they came around.

That's why I switched to Nikon Fieldscopes when I had a chance to get an EDIIA and an ED78 at reasonable prices.

Hermann